High School Style Running Out of Time
by hidden-in-a-tree
Summary: David and Henry are just out trying to relax, trying to escape from the stress of school, family and girls . . . but then the football players show up. Oneshot. David/Henry. David's POV.


**Author's Note: **This is the first oneshot in one of my latest series. In this series, Wendy, Henry, Hodges (and others, but not important right now) are in high school. This may not correspond correctly with their ages, but who cares? That's why they call it fanfiction, mua hahahaha!  
**Acknowledgements: **Thanks goes out to Amanda for proofreading, as usual.  
**Disclaimer: **I own none of the characters mentioned.  
**Summary: **David and Henry are just out trying to relax, trying to escape from the stress of school, family and girls . . . but then the football players show up. Are the jocks as stupid and violent as TV and books make them out to be?

**Running Out of Time**

David Hodges sat on the swing, his feet dragging lazily in the still damp sand. His fingers intertwined with the rusted chain, the cold metal a contrast to his warm hands. The sky was, once again, a forget-me-not blue with only pure white, snow white, clouds drifting past a sinking sun. It was not yet sunset, but it was not the afternoon anymore either.

He glanced to his left at his friend, Henry Andrews. After the rain had stopped they decided to hang out. They went for a short walk then wound up at the old and decrepit park on the outskirts of the gully.

"My mom was yelling at me again today. Over something stupid, like usual. She just . . . uggh. She just wouldn't shut up. God, I hate her," Henry said, his voice quiet but it echoed, carrying to the far reaches of the earth, of the universe. It kept going.

David didn't really know what to say. His mom and him got on pretty good terms. She was slightly over-protective, but what could you do? His dad was cool, too. The only person he had rough patches with was his older sister, Michelle. She could be a real pain, but she was rarely home. "I don't really know what to say, Henry."

"Well this is retarded, Hodges. She won't stop harassing me. Does she harass Carrie or Regan? Of course not," Henry continued on, his face taking on an ugly expression, almost as if he had a bitter taste at the back of his throat.

Hodges . . . the name stuck like crazy glue. David didn't really mind when his friends said it, but when others used that name it bothered him slightly. But the name stuck, no matter what he said.

Henry sighed in frustration, kicking the ground. All it achieved was him swinging slowly back, back towards the sparse trees of the desert. "Maybe we should just get off this topic of conversation. So—what should we talk about?"

David shrugged, using his feet to push himself forwards, then backwards. "I didn't really have a topic, actually."

"Well I have one, then. I saw you staring at Wendy pretty much the whole day," Henry said, his lighting up at the memory. He laughed out loud when he saw David flush a bright, hot red.

"I did not—"

"Yeah, you did. The whole day."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Oh look, snarky Hodges is back."

"Bite me, Henry."

"Does someone have an attitude problem?"

"I'll give _you_ a problem in a minute."

Henry laughed again, a smile on his face, the worries of his family forgotten, even if it was just for a second. This was a regular conversation for the friends—sarcastic comments sent back and forth.

"Hey, look who it is," David muttered, his gaze alighting upon a group of five coming towards them. From afar they looked huge—it had to be the football team.

"Crap," Henry said, licking his lips nervously. He didn't consider himself and Hodges nerds . . . but that's what they were. Total nerds/geeks, the whole works. Of course Archie was more of a geek, but to a group like the football players, they were all the same.

"Well look what we got here boys," Ralph said as he drew abreast of the two boys on the swings. "A couple of girls."

The guys behind him guffawed appreciatively. Henry and David stayed silent, hoping they would just leave.

They didn't.

"What are you girls up to?" Ralph asked, crossing his arms. He looked ready for a fight.

"N-nothing," Henry stammered, his heart up in his throat, "Nothing at all."

"'N-nothing'," Ralph mocked as his friends chuckled. "You're such a little girl, Andrews. No one stutters anymore. That only happened in old fashioned movies."

"I'm surprised _you_ don't stutter or have some mental problem," David said, before he could even think of what he was saying, "seeing as how your dad probably sexually harassed you every night. Or maybe you liked it, so . . ."

Ralph was on him in an instant. He had thrown David to the ground, his head slamming into the compacted sand. Stars flashed above his unseeing eyes and a light whistling noise was in his ears.

"You take that back," Ralph growled, his sour breath hot on David's cheek. "You take that back right now, you little—"

Out of nowhere Henry's foot made contact with Ralph's heavy-set face. His lackeys were almost on David's friend when he started to run, screaming over his shoulder: "RUN, HODGES, RUN!"

In an instant David had thrust his knee upwards into Ralph's stomach, sending the man reeling. He vaulted up, his feet already sprinting towards the retreating form of Henry. David could hear the grunts of pain from Ralph and the worried yells of his backup.

"GET THEM!" Ralph screamed at them and then David heard it . . . the thundering footfalls as the older guys chased him down the path. He had nowhere to go, and he was going to be outrun.

Soon he would just be a part of the asphalt.

David's breath was starting to come in short, gasping wheezes. He wasn't going to make it much further. He was heading towards a sparse group of trees along the hazy horizon . . . but he knew he'd never make it there in time. These guys were _football _players. Did he honestly think he could make a run for it? He should have kept his mouth shut, he should have—

A hand grabbed him from behind a large gray garbage can. It grasped his light t-shirt and dragged him behind it. A hand covered David's screaming mouth, shushing him.

"Shut up Hodges! You want to get us both killed?" Henry hissed, pinching him slightly. David threw off his friend's hand and ran a few fingers through his short hair. They both were on their haunches, huddled behind the stinking garbage can. Neither one of them wanted to get the shit kicked out of them, but this wasn't a new concept for either of them.

"Where the hell did they go?" a deep, gruff voice asked only a few seconds after Henry had grabbed David. Henry felt his heart almost stop.

"I don't know . . . I didn't know the skinny one could run that fast," another voice replied. They all laughed, and continued on their jog, leaving their boss behind them. A few minutes passed as the younger boys watched the seniors disappear into the distance.

"Wow . . ." David murmured, rubbing his head slightly. He could feel a monster headache coming on. He had them pretty often, and there were no cures. Henry turned to glare at him.

"You know, you could say thank-you," he said, his dark eyes narrowed slightly.

David raised his eyebrows but didn't have a sarcastic reply. "Thanks Henry," he said, only a little grudgingly.

His friend shrugged and smiled. "You know what . . . that was actually kind of fun."

"Speak for yourself," David grumbled, still rubbing his sore head.

"You had it coming, Hodges. I couldn't believe you'd said that!"

"Yeah, me neither actually."

"What'd you say, again? Something about his dad sexually—"

"Harassing him, yeah."

Henry burst out in laughter, wonder in his eyes.

David joined in, awed at his own bravery . . . or was it stupidity? "It's a blog moment for sure."

That made Henry chortle harder and he clapped his friend on the shoulder before standing up. "Well, might as well head home."

David stood as well. "Why so early?"

Henry coughed uncomfortably before replying: "I have to go home and change my pants."


End file.
